Transfiguration Lesson 1 (Years 1-4)

Grayson stood at the back of his new classroom and surveyed his work with a critical eye. It was strange, having his own classroom. It gave him a certain sense of freedom: it was his own room; he could do whatever he liked with it. So he had.

It had taken a lot of work, but it was his first day on the job and, well, he wanted to make an impression. When he was in school, his favourite teachers were the ones who made him care about their subjects. He didn’t just want his students to learn transfiguration; he wanted them to learn to love transfiguration. It was one of the most difficult subjects to master, and if he wanted them to put in the necessary effort, he had to give them sufficient motivation.

So here he was, waiting on his first students to arrive, and pushing down his nerves as he hoped everything would go according to plan. His first class was the beginner class, and he had planned accordingly, knowing the younger students were most likely to appreciate what he had in store.

He glanced at the clock as he strolled down the aisle through the rows of desks until he got to his own. They’d be here any minute now. He pulled out a book and sat down behind his desk, propping his feet up on top of it and leaning back in his chair. He opened his book and pretended to read to himself as he waited, hoping to exude a casual air. There was nothing written on the board behind him, and the classroom looked exceedingly normal.

It was the morning after the #EpicSleepover and as expected, Mimosa had not gotten much sleep. The girl had finally drifted of around six a.m. cuddled to Mercy in the Room of Requirements, only for a blaring alarm to go of at seven thirty, waking everyone in the room. From there on, it had been a race to various common rooms and then a fight to get ready in the shared showers. Luckily, Mimosa no longer had to worry about sharing a bathroom since after last year, all the girls in her dorm had made other arrangements to cater to the young American.

Still, a hot shower and changing into her uniform had only half woken the young witch up and she wasn't the only one. As a result, four of the seven Slytherins who walked into the Transfiguraton classroom looked like they would rather be back in bed. Though Mimosa's spirits did lift considerably when she saw who was teaching for the day.

"Mr. Hughes," the child breathed out, not quite up to her usual squealing self yet. The child had nursed a soft spot for the librarian ever since he'd helped her last year, culminating in her getting him a huge selection of teas and spices from India upon her return. Of course, she hadn't expected him to be in a class so she had simply asked the house elves to deliver the parcel to the library.

Hurrying to the front of the class to speak to the newly minted teacher, Mimosa lingered there until Ji Hyun and Squid Boy had no chose but to find seats. She was in no mood to sit between them today, or any day until they figured out what was bothering them. Once everyone was seated, Mimosa chose her own desk and chair, a little away from her group so that Mercy or Gaspard would be able to take the empty desk to her left should they choose to attend.

Dominique smiled as she walked into the Transfiguration classroom. This year her schedule seems full but she wasn’t going to let that bother her. And she was still trying out for the seeker spot. Now she knew what Mercy and Mimosa went through last year. As both of the girls were on their house team. But she wasn’t going to let that stand in the way of one of her dreams. To be a prefect or head girl, but she had some years before that would happen. Now she just had to focus on her second year. Hopefully Mimosa or Mercy would be taking the class with her. But either way she was going to enjoy it.

When she walked in, she noticed that she was somewhat early. But started to grin when she noticed that Mimosa was there. One of her best friends was in the class with her. “ Mimosa!” Dominique knew that she got excited easily. So she went over and was trying to find a seat near her. But she then turned her attention to the professor. “ Hello professor.”

Jade walked around the large school for a little while now. She didn't know where most rooms where, as she was new here, but she also didn't want to rely on others to show her the rooms. That's what she told herself, at least. In truth she simply found it emberassing to ask. But it turned out she was actually smart enough to find where she had to go. Eventually. Wait, is that the room? Oh, yes! Finally! Transfiguration. That's what she was looking for.

As she entered the room, she looked for a place to sit first. Preferably somewhere near the front, but also without many students from the other houses around her. She quickly found one and made her way to it. As she was walking past a few desks and students, she tried to listen in some conversations. Perhaps someone was talking about something interesting. When she arrived at the desk she chose for herself, she sat down. Usually, she would open her book now and either read something important for the lesson or at least pretend like she did. However, as this was her first time in transfiguration class and she also didn't have any experience with it, she decided it would be best to show the professor that she is ready to learn. So, she smiled at him, and waited for the lesson to begin, while she was still listening in on the students talking around her.

Grayson smiled as the young students began trickling in, starting with an exhausted looking Mimosa, and a band of yawning Slytherins.

"Hello," he greeted quietly, closing his book and swinging his legs down from the desk to face her. This morning, he had wandered into the library to retrieve some things from his old office, and had found a large and mysterious parcel waiting for him on his desk. It had been addressed to him from Mimosa, and upon opening it, he had discovered a wide variety of Indian teas and spices. Apparently, she had visited the country over the summer, and for some reason thought of him. It was completely unexpected, but certainly a welcome surprise, and he'd felt rather touched by the gesture.

"Thank you for the gifts," he told her. "It was very kind of you to think of me. How long were you in India? Did you enjoy it there?"

One of Mimosa's friends called her name, and Grayson went back to greeting each student who addressed him as they all started to get settled. Once everyone was seated, he rose from his chair and came around the front of the desk, with his book in hand. He waited for the room to quiet, then spoke at a normal level, though his voice carried.

"Good morning. As some of you may know, my name is Professor Hughes. I was the librarian here for the last few years. You'll still see me in there when I'm not teaching a class. If you ever need assistance, whether with transfiguration or with finding a book, my door is always open, so don't hesitate to ask me anything."

He surveyed the students sitting at their desks, then looked thoughtfully around the classroom.

"Transfiguration is a versatile branch of magic. In short, it is the art of changing things, and it includes conjuring, vanishing, and transforming objects, as well as living things. It can be very difficult, but it is also very useful, and when mastered, can be used to astonishing effect."

He looked down at the book in his hands, then up at his students.

"You all agree that this is a book, yes?"

After receiving affirmation from the class, he nodded.

"It looks like a book and feels like a book. It is a book. Until it isn't."

With a smile, he tossed the book toward a Gryffindor student he remembered from his cooking class last year--Dominique. Before it reached her, the book transformed into a teddy bear mid-air.

"What if I told you nothing in this room is what it seems it is? The chairs you're sitting in, the desks in front of you, they aren't really chairs and desks. Your job," he said, pulling out his wand to demonstrate, "is to find out what they are. There is only one spell you need today, and it is the least dangerous of all transfiguration spells. In fact, it's an untransfiguration spell. Reparifarge."

He pointed his wand at an empty desk, and it swifty shifted into a pillow. He turned back to the class.

"Everybody take out your wands, and try it on your desks. Reparifarge," he repeated, enunciating so they could hear him clearly. As the class started to shift around, he began to walk through the rows, coming to each student individually to give them tips.

Truth be told Mimosa didn't have very high expectations of the class despite her fondness for the teacher. Those who had taken the subject before had told her it was very textbook centric and still, the second year was here. Her textbook safely in her bag, the little witch listened as Mr. Hughes talked, her eyes growing steadily wider as he changed things around them. Could it be possible that this class was going to be... fun?

When the professor encouraged them the try the same trick, Mimosa could barely believe it. This wasn't a class, this was a fun treasure hunt where she got to uncover what things really were. The young Slytherin wished Mercy was here, she would definitely enjoy the lesson. Still, Mimosa was not about to let her absent friend down. Looking closely at the wand motion and the words Professor Hughes used, Mimosa retrieved her own wand and tried to give it a go, making sure to listen to those around her before trying it for herself. She really wanted to get this right.

"Reparifarge!"

The child jumped, looking at her wand. She hadn't moved it and yet... she was clearly no longer in her chair.

"Ji Hyun!" she squealed, looking at the grinning culprit accusingly. The boy had just turned her chair into a large red beanbag, and did not look at all remorseful. Mimosa tried to be mad but the beanbag was a lot more comfortable than her wooden chair and so, she grinned in defeat.

"I'll get you back for that," she warned, pointing her own wand at the boy and copying the wand movement she now felt a lot more confident with. "Reparifarge!"

Ji Hyun ducked quickly and instead, her spell went flying towards Dia. Mimosa barely had time to call out a warning before the spell collided with the Gryffindor's desk, turning it into a rocking horse and sending the other girl's book's teetering off the horses' back and on to the floor.

"Opps, sorry Dia," the young Beater called out sheepishly, readying her wand once more to aim at Ji Hyun who was laughing silently.

Grayson sat back and watched the chaos unfold, an amused expression spreading across his face. He kept his eye out for those who seemed to be having trouble, and made his way over to them, ducking and dodging as some of the students got into a friendly competition of sorts. It seemed most of the students had gotten the spell pretty quickly, and it wasn't long before the room was in shambles. The neat rows of desks and chairs had disappeared, replaced by everything from beanbags to rocking horses to wicker baskets. Finally, the room began to settle down, as it seemed everything that could be untransfigured had been.

He stepped carefully over the clutter to address the class from the front of the room, glad that they seemed to be having fun. He looked up at the clock.

"We're a little short on time, so I'll leave you with this: your homework--don't worry, it's not hard--is to come up with a list of five things transfiguration could be useful for. This could be for you, personally, or for a certain profession, or on a global scale. Anything you can think of, I want to hear next class. Good job today, all of you," he smiled as the bell rang, signalling the end of class.

That wasn't so bad, he mused to himself as the students filed out. Then he busied himself with retrieving the real desks and chairs in preparation for the next class.